Soviet World War II
Soviet World War II Season 2: Das Rebootening New season, new rules. We will be transitioning characters to the Mini-Specialty rules. Try and build your character in the same spirit as before but don’t worry too much about being exactly the same. But please make sure that you end up with the same number of Skills/Styles/Spells as before. The ratio can change but I don’t like the idea of using a rules reset to bypass training time. If this results in not being able to make pre-reqs work, let me know and we can figure something out. Reboot Basics: * 450 Generic (go ahead and bank points, IDGAF) * 3 Gate Specialties (3 1st Tier or 2 1st Tier and 1 2nd Tier - No 3rd Tier) * 8 1st Tier Mini Specialties * 1 Mini Specialty (1st or 2nd Tier) * You don't have to spend points to learn specialties * Maintain parity with number of skills you currently have Required Skills: From those points, you must also have -Russian L3 -1 Language Group L3: * East Asian (Chinese, Japanese and Korean) * Asian Sub-Continent (Punjabi and Urdu) * Middle Eastern (Arabic, Farsi, Turkic) * European Romantic (French, Italian and Spanish) * Northern European (German, English and Choose 1 Scandinavian Language) -Previous season had characters start with Math and Science - The Techie Free Ride is now over. The Forbidden List Rules: In addition to having the same number of total Skills/Styles/Spells, you also cannot end up with more Skills/Spells from the Forbidden List than your character previously had. Obviously, if this screws your pre-reqs, let me know. The Forbidden List is: * Operate Probe * Pilot Space * Netsmarts * Exo System Engineering * Nano Genetics * Nano Engineering * Robot Engineering * All Computer Science * All Mystic Skills * All Spells Augments: For characters with Augments, you can keep/transition them but try to keep the same number of Augments as before. Again, if there’s a problem with pre-reqs let me know. Equipment: All your stuff has been seized. Maybe you could recover it? But in the meantime, everyone manages to keep any non-weapon Augments and Grafts. Bennies: The harsh world of Soviet Russia is one where a Benny may only be given once. One may spend as many bennies as they have but only one givee benny per night. SEASON 1 RULES Sucker Punch meets League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets Cthulhu in Soviet World War II You start as young Soviet women caught up in the Battle of Stalingrad in the Summer of 1942. You may be from any part of the Russia but for whatever reason, you found yourselves in Stalingrad when the Nazis launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union. Up until now you have avoided the conflict but the past few weeks of aerial bombardment have made Stalingrad much more dangerous. Now with German ground forces approaching you have been recruited in Stalingrad’s defence. Women were not generally placed in front line combat but often formed auxiliary units for medical, logistics or more recently, anti-air. Things are now getting desperate as the Red Army was decimated in the previous year of combat and anyone able to hold a rifle has been recruited. You are part of the Red Army’s Anti-Air Regiment (#1077), charged with defending a nearby tank factory near the west bank of the Volga. Magic and Technology: Technology is at WWII levels, so tanks, bolt-action rifles and prop planes. Augments are super rare but do exist. They function off of clockwork and steam technologies. Likewise, magic exists but is usually dismissed as being only the minds of the superstitious. Perhaps some of you have seen that there is more to this than what is commonly known, but you know better than to speak your mind openly. As you progress through your careers, your eyes will be opened to the wider world and access to high technology and magic will not only be available but necessary to your survival. Character Creation: You all start with the option of a generic speciality that gives you the opportunity to get a leg up on shaping your character. Soviet Russia under Stalin was a time of dramatic increases in production and social upheaval as the old order was cast aside and industrialization was forced. Nonetheless, Russians are a superstitious lot and many still held to past mysticism. Higher technology and magic is not widely available but can be taken as pre-requisites for generic specialities. These skills should help flesh out your backgrounds. Was your aunt a Cossack witch who taught you to be a Warlock? Were you orphaned and experimented on by a pioneer augmentalist who trained you to be a Bionic? Starting Skills and Points: You are not uneducated serfs: Math L3 Science L3 Russian L3 1 Language Group L3: East Asian (Chinese, Japanese and Korean), Asian Sub-Continent (Punjabi and Urdu) Middle Eastern (Arabic, Farsi, Turkic) European Romantic (French, Italian and Spanish) Northern European (German, English and Choose 1 Scandinavian Language) -25 pool points to spend on skills (a Language Group counts as 1 skill). -Training in one Generic Specialist program that you qualify for (and have the 5 points to pay for it) -If a character is taking the Bionic Generic Speciality, they can: · Spend 1 pool point each to install up to 2 Level 1 Basic Implants for pre-requisites; and · Spend 2 pool points each to install up to 2 Level 4 Basic Implants. -''After training in a Generic specialty and spending your pool points, choose '''any' (even from the Forbidden List!) three''' 'additional Skills, Spells, Styles, Augments or Techniques (it doesn’t have to be related to your specialty but you must qualify for it). Skills and Spell chosen this way are known at Level 3. ''Alternatively, character can use any or all of those 3 bonuses for a Level 3 piece of equipment of non-ridiculously hi-tech levels. Projectile weapons, armor and medical equipment (i.e., first aid kit) are encouraged. Beware the swing of the Nerfhammer. The Forbidden List*: *Characters may start with one or more of these skills if they are pre-requisites for their starting generic specialty). Operate Probe Pilot Space Netsmarts Exo System Engineering Nano Genetics Nano Engineering Robot Engineering All Computer Science All Mystic Skills Spells Starting Equipment: 1 Tokerev Sidearm (DR 1, -5AP, 12 hex range, SF 2, Payload 6), 1 clip 1 Mosin-Nagant Bolt Action Rifle (DR 3, -10 AP, 25 hex range, SF 4, Payload 12 – Does not burst), 3 clips 1 NR-40 Combat Knife (DR 1, SF 2, - 5AP) 1 Winter Coat 1 Pair of Gloves 1 Pair of Boots 2 Red Army Uniforms (unisex) 100 Roubles Relevant Organizational Lore Options: Lore: Occult – Magic isn’t just spells (which are covered by mystic lore). Occult Lore will give you insight into unexplained strangeness that emerges from time to time. Lore: Bolshevik – You are schooled in the political games and manoeuvres of the Communist Party. You will be able recognize key members and puzzle out motives and plots amongst party members. Lore: Nazism – Similar to Bolshevik Lore, you will recognize key Nazi figures and understand their interrelationships, helping to puzzle out motives and plots. Lore: Capitalism – Like the other lore skills, you will recognize key Capitalists and understand their preposterous arguments for the superiority of Capitalism over Communism. Also includes background knowledge of capitalist economies (Western Europe, US). Lore: Papal - Knowledge of the Catholic Church, its history, practice, key figures and other tidbits. Can also give insight to the Church's connection with the Players. Soviet History Snapshot The communist revolution in 1917 knocked Russia out of World War I and started the world’s largest nation down the path of modernity. While the revolution and ensuing changes increased industrial production and access to education, upheavals amongst the landowners and extensive purges left Russian society in disarray. However, rapid changes opened up new opportunities for social mobility, particularly among women. The 1930s were a time of rapid progress and the short lived alliance between the USSR and Nazi Germany had many Soviets feeling optimistic about the future. The Nazi betrayal and near complete obliteration of the Red Army turned these years of optimism into desperation. In particular in the Siege of Stalingrad, Stalin had decided that the USSR would not relinquish the city bearing his name. As inhabitants attempted to flee across the Volga out of Stalingrad, Red Army troops destroyed the ferries and prevented citizens from leaving, believing that with no other option, civilians would fight for the city. Timeline of the War so Far: 1939 September: Warsaw falls to Soviet Army supported by the Germans 1940 March: Finland surrenders to the USSR 1941 June: Germany invades the USSR in a stunning betrayal 1942 February/March: See-saw battle for Kharkov is lost by the USSR. 1941 July: Minsk and Smolensk fall to Wehrmacht forces, obliterating the defenders. 1942 July: Sevastopol falls to Wehrmacht control. 1942 August: Germans begin the siege of Stalingrad